


Nanny and Warlock and a Secret Santa

by Depressedstressedlemonzest



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale has a disguise besides that stupid one he wears as brother francis, Aziraphale is just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing, Aziraphale loves Crowley, Chubby Aziraphale, Crowley is good with kids, Crowley loves Aziraphale, Merry Christmas, Secret Santa Fic, Warlock's middle name is conan for some reason, aziraphale is santa claus, but he's really a great person, crowley has anxiety about crowds, crowley is deep down at heart a little bit of a good person, magic of christmas, merry chrysler, nanny and warlock, nanny has style, nanny is nurturing, warlock is curious, what would lucifer do?, wing mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:07:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21966898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Depressedstressedlemonzest/pseuds/Depressedstressedlemonzest
Summary: This is a Good Omens Secret Santa fic!Young Warlock is seven years old, old enough to go to school and make friends. Nanny Ashtoreth is still employed by the Dowlings to be his nanny, and since it's winter Brother Francis is on vacation.Some kid mouths off that Santa isn't real, so nanny and Warlock investigate how true that statement is.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Nanny Ashtoreth/Brother Francis (Good Omens)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 75





	Nanny and Warlock and a Secret Santa

**Author's Note:**

> This is a secret santa gift for @aziraphalesrarebooks I hope you enjoy it!!

"Warlock, what's wrong my little hellspawn?" Nanny Ashtoreth asked the boy she was employed to rear and watch over as he whacked his army soldier toy against his dinosaur toy.

Since she picked him up from school that day he was very sullen and had little angry lines drawn onto his small face, he was usually such a sweet boy with a curious and somewhat wild demeanor, but not often angry.

Warlock mumbled something as he tossed both toys to the cream and brown carpeted floor and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Warlock what is it dear? Do I need to call for the hellhounds to drag it out of you?" She asked in a silly scary voice, a threat she always used if he started misbehaving or withholding information, not that it does much good, he wants to see a hellhound. 

Warlock looked up at Nanny, her plum colored jacket and skirt made her loose red hair brighter, she wore a black shirt and had a checkered olive neckerchief, her dark sunglasses perched on her pointed nose, her black boots pointed at the toe. All stern and sinister looking to anyone but Warlock, to him she was just Nanny.

He sighed and rose from his position on the floor and walked over to Nanny who was sitting on the edge of the couch.  
He plopped his head onto her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Nanny, Timmy Mullins said that Christmas is rubbish, and then he pushed me down and called me a baby for still believing in Santa Claus." Warlock said with a sniffle.

Nanny squeezed Warlock tightly and mentally sent a miracle to Timmy Mullins so he'd be allergic to his favorite candies, the little brat.

"Did you smite him down? Did you ask yourself what would Lucifer do?" Nanny asked with a grin.  
Warlock shook his head and Nanny realized he was awfully upset by the bully at school and she switched gears from demonic to nurturing.

"Well Warlock, Christmas is different for everybody, some people believe some things about it, some people believe in Santa, some people don't. Believing in Santa doesn't make you a baby, it makes you..." Nanny trailed off a bit, her red lips pressing into a thin line.  
Where's the angel when you need good words?

"It makes you happy yeah? Santa makes you happy?" Nanny asked Warlock.  
Warlock nodded his head. 

"But Nanny, is Santa real?" Warlock asked earnestly, he knew Nanny wouldn't lie to him. 

Nanny slipped a moment and Crowley cringed. He didn't want to lie to the kid, and neither did Nanny, but they didn't want the kid to not believe in Santa, not yet anyway, he had three more years until Armageddon was supposed to take place and that'll be enough to drag his soul down. He should believe in fairies and leprechauns and Santa as long as he can.

"Why don't we, er, play detective, go find out, and then you tell me?" Nanny suggested grasping at straws. 

Warlock's face broken into a smile.  
"Yeah! I can use the detective kit I got for my birthday! Let me get it!" Warlock exclaimed running off to his room to grab the kit.

Crowley went to run a hand through his hair and grabbed for his cell phone and dialed Aziraphale up.  
"Hello?" 

Crowley felt his heart churn at the sound of the Angel's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Aziraphale it's me, Warlock is asking me if Santa Claus is real and I don't want him to stop believing yet, what do I do?!" Crowley hissed quickly at Aziraphale. 

The angel chuckled on the other end of the line.

"It's not funny! This Is serious! There was a rotten little git at school who upset him and now he wants to play detective and find Santa, which, ya know was my suggesting, but I panicked." Crowley explained quickly through the phone. 

Aziraphale's the cleverest being he knew, and knew he could think of something that would help Warlock either keep believing in magic or be let down easy.

"Well take him to do some detective work, and then bring him to the hill at St. James, the one where we..." Aziraphale started to say.

"The only hill in St. James yeah I know which one. Alright angel see you there." Crowley said cutting him off as Warlock ambled back into the room with his magnifying glass and wearing his deerstalker.

Nanny rolled her eyes at the gifts that Brother Francis had gifted Warlock for his last birthday. Warlock had seen Brother Francis reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, and his interest was piqued at the cover image, and he asked Brother Francis to read him parts of it. Eager to fill that request Brother Francis obliged, and Warlock was hooked, though it could be a bore at least he was taking an interest in literature.

"Let's get to investigating then little hellspawn." Nanny said smiling at Warlock. 

The pair put on their coats, Warlock a puffy blue one, and Nanny a coat that had been gifted to her by Brother Francis last Christmas, a long dark colored hooded sheepskin coat with lush toscana trim and interior, it keeps her toasty warm in the cold London winters.  
Perfect for the weather today since it had snowed the day prior and a thick blanket of fluffy white flakes had blanketed the earth. Icicles dangling from the gutters, frozen leaves shivering on thin branches in the light wind, the sun shining through clouds making the light sharp and bright but no warmth seeping out.  
They made their way to the nice old car that Nanny would sometimes drive to the Dowlings in, Warlock noticed it was when Brother Francis didn't also work, otherwise she rode the bus. The snow crunching beneath their feet as they made their way to the car.

Warlock climbed into the back of the Bentley and buckled up while Nanny slipped behind the drivers seat and started up the car.  
"Where to first detective?" Nanny asked giving Warlock a little smirk in the rearview mirror.

"Well I heard a boy named Wensleydale say that the real Santa was actually in the North Pole, but that's too far. His friend Alan, no Adam, i think, said that he saw Santa at Leicester Square."

"Well then Leicester Square it is." Nanny said as she started moving the Bentley forward. 

As they drove Warlock went over what he believed a good plan to find out if the Santa at  
Leicester Square was the really real Santa or not.  
"I could ask if he's the real Santa, then see what he says." Warlock said 

"Well Warlock, anyone can say they're Santa, go ahead, ask me if I'm Santa." Nanny said peeking at him in the rearview mirror. 

"Nanny are you Santa?" Warlock asked humoring her.

"Yep, one hundred percent Santa J. Claus." Nanny said grinning.

Warlock frowned.

"See, you gotta think of some good questions that only the really real Santa would know. Or one way to check is pull his beard, some of the fakes wear costume beards." Nanny said laughing to herself.

"Well I could ask him what I put on my list this year!" Warlock said excitedly. 

"There you go, now you're thinking! And ask him what cookies we put out last year, I believe it was snickerdoodle. " Nanny said thinking for a moment.

"Yeah! I remember because Brother Francis kept trying to help and you got mad at him, then he stole one and you called him a, a bastard." Warlock whispered the last two words with wide eyes.

Nanny simultaneously chuckled and blushed at the child's memory, but it was accurate. Aziraphale in his Brother Francis disguise, the awful disguise it was, had barged into the kitchen to show Warlock some little grubbie that he had plucked off a poinsettia, and saw that he and Nanny were making cookies for Santa, and kept trying to interject with how much sugar and how much cinnamon to use. Crowley had slipped and called Aziraphale a bastard In front of Warlock, but had hoped the child hadn't retained that information. 

"Er let's keep thinking of questions to ask Santa." Nanny said hastily, though she didn't think that "bastard" was necessarily a bad word, a sentence enhancer if you will, but she didn't reckon the Dowlings would like their seven year old spouting it off.

Warlock had come up with a perfect sounding plan to figure out if Santa was real by the time they pulled into a parking area at Leicester Square. 

Crowley groaned at the crowd, all the people milling around, close proximity, bumping and bumbling into each other, all carbon dioxide and body heat. He took a few deep breaths to calm his already jittered nerves he got at the first sight of the crowd.  
He could sense the haze of prickliness in the air that meant the humans were on edge enough to be tempted into bad things, he'd barely have to do any work.

But he wasn't here for temptations or hell's quota, he was here to give Warlock a good time, and keep him as innocent as long as he could before what was written was foretold.

Nanny caught the grin on Warlock's face and smiled at him.  
"Okay Warlock, what are the rules?" Nanny asked turning in her seat to look at him.

Warlock rolled his eyes and recited in a monotone voice, "no talking to strangers, no leaving your side, don't go off with any strangers, and if someone tries to take me draw attention to myself."

"That's right, now let's go find us a Santa Claus." She said unbuckling herself and stepping out of the Bentley.  
Warlock bounded after her, lacing one hand in hers and holding his magnifying glass up to his eyes with the other.

As they meandered through Leicester Square Nanny spotted signs that pointed to where Santa's Grotto was set up.  
"Warlock do you see any clues as to where Santa is?" She asked as they stopped in front of the candy cane colored sign with different attractions pointed this way and that in big white letters on red backgrounds.

"Hmmmm." Warlock said rubbing his chin and squinting at the sign making a show for Nanny. She hid a smile at his dramatics. 

"That way!" Warlock announced pointing to the correct sign.

"Lead the way hellspawn." Nanny said smiling and giving Warlock's hand a squeeze.

As they walked toward Santa's Grotto Nanny noticed the crowd thickening and clogging the walking paths.  
Nanny gritted her teeth, it was so crowded, people were bumping against each other, the constant buzz of noise from everyone's voices scrambling together, like the gray snow on certain television channels, the heat of everyone's bodies was stifling and sweltering, making her skin hot and sweaty, making her want to take her coat off, but knew if she did she would hear more lewd comments than usual.  
The full roar of the crowd growing louder as they got closer and closer to Santa's Grotto, punctuated by the addition of children's squeals of glee, of children crying, or children screaming.

Nanny's head started to get a sharp pain between her eyes. It was getting too loud, too crowded, too many noises, too many voices pitching into the dull roar of the crowd. The roar getting intense and deafening.

"Wait Warlock. " Nanny said coming to a stop in the middle of the path squeezing his hand.  
Warlock stopped with Nanny and watched her closely.  
He knew she didn't like crowds, and needed to take a moment sometimes.  
She shut her eyes a moment and took a deep slow breath in and counted to five and then exhaled slowly as she counted to five.  
She repeated this process a couple times while repeating the mantra, "We can leave this situation at any time. I am in charge of these feelings. I am not powerless to these feelings. I am not vulnerable to this crowd around me. I am bigger than this situation." in a voice so quiet Warlock could only hear a low humming coming from her painted red lips.  
She took another deep breath and slowly exhaled before opening her eyes again.

Warlock smiled at her, "Nanny, it's okay, if you need me to, I'll keep you safe."  
Nanny felt a little lump grow in her throat and she smiled weakly at Warlock and leaned down to hug him.  
He squeezed her tightly, as she stood she took another deep breath and stood.

"C'mon, let's go see if this Santa's the real deal." She said giving him a wink from over the tops of her sunglasses and grabbing for his hand.

As they got closer to the end of the line at Santa's Grotto Warlock became more excited, skipping along and jumping up and down.

"Nanny I can see his hat!" He exclaimed.

She smiled at him and peeked ahead. The line was moving surprisingly fast for kids asking for presents.  
Then Nanny caught sight of the bloke playing Santa and her stomach clenched, he wasn't very believable looking, at least not to her.  
The kids who had already seen him didn't have the best looks on their faces, the parents were grumbling, and Santa himself just looked like he was miserable.  
Not even a twinkle in his eyes, not even a brightness about him, just another person drudging through the holidays until they were over.

She looked at Warlock who was still excited, and hoped that he still would be even after talking to the man dressed as Santa.  
Luckily they were also the last in line, a "closed to feed the reindeer" sign had been put up behind them to deter more people from lining up.

As they got closer and closer to the front Nanny's heart fluttered more and more with nerves for Warlock, would he believe this is Santa? Would he keep his innocence a little bit longer? Would he keep believing in magic? Would this end badly and start setting off his antichrist behaviors?

Suddenly they were being beckoned to the big red chair that Santa sat in by a teenage girl with dark hair in an elf outfit.  
Her pointy shoes jingled as she gestured for Warlock to get ready to sit on Santa's lap.  
Nanny let go of his hand so he could do so freely.

She watched from where the photographer sat smoking a cigarette behind the camera on a tripod, set to capture the magical moments. 

Warlock was wide eyed at Santa, who gave his best "Ho ho ho" to him.  
Nanny was too far to hear exactly what Warlock was saying to Santa and vice versa.  
She saw Warlock hold his magnifying glass up to Santa's face, inspecting the non rosy cheeks and non twinkling eyes.  
Suddenly a scowl appeared on Warlock's face and with his free hand he reached up and tugged down on Santa's beard, the fake face disguise yanking down past the man's chin revealing a dark 5 o'clock shadow and concave cheeks.

Crowley's eyes widened, as thrilled as he was for the bit of mischief from the boy, he didn't want that mischief coming out now when he was trying to make sure he still believed in Santa. He cursed under his breath and Nanny quickly walked up to Warlock who had jumped off Santa's lap and was just staring at the face under the mask of Christmas. 

"You're not really Santa, you're not real." Warlock said in a weirdly quiet calm voice. 

"Kid didn't anyone teach you about personal space?" The Santa said yanking the fake beard back up on his face.

"Yes my Nanny did. And Brother Francis taught me that lying is wrong and you're a liar!" Warlock said accusingly narrowing his eyes at fake Santa. 

Fake Santa sighed and shot a look at Nanny as if to indicate that she should get Warlock under control.  
Nanny narrowed her eyes at the fake Santa herself thinking, 'you had one bloody job, to keep kids believing and you can't even fake it enough to barely pass that off.' But didnt say any of that.  
Instead she looked at Warlock who was fighting back tears, but still held an angry scowl on his face.

"Warlock..." Nanny started.

Warlock spun around and started running off into the crowd.

"Fuck." Crowley said, feeling all the color drain from his face. 

He tore off after Warlock, luckily the stupid deerstalker making a nice visible beacon in the crowd, and also luckily his legs were longer than a seven year olds.

After chasing him for not very long at all, shoving people out of the way, barreling past those who got in his path, he caught up with Warlock and snatched his arm.  
Nanny glared at the child as he fought to keep running.  
"Warlock Conan Dowling!" Nanny snarled catching the child's attention.

Warlock froze and stopped trying to fight Nanny's grip on his wrist. He sniffed loudly and turned to Nanny.  
He felt the heat initially behind Nanny's sunglasses, her face pinched and pulled into a glowering snarl, but that heat melted and her face softened and smoothed out, now pulling down in a sad little frown.

Wordlessly she reached down and picked Warlock up effortlessly, he buried his face in her neck and he sniffled and let a few tears fall as she carried him back to the Bentley. She held him tightly, running her fingers through his hair trying to sooth him as he cried the whole walk back.  
As wordlessly as she picked him up she held him as she leaned against the Bentley and just kind of bounced him gently, running a hand up and down his back soothingly as he caught his breath, crying big heaving silent tears and sniffling and wiping his nose on Nanny's shoulder.  
She began humming him his nighttime lullaby to help try and soothe him. But she didn't want him to stifle his feelings, she knew his father was a very, tight lined thinker, "boys don't cry, boys don't play with dolls, boys don't wear dresses" she's heard him utter several times through the years, but she never instilled those thoughts in Warlock's head, so he never stifled himself around her.

After several rounds of of the lullaby and back rubbing and bouncing Warlock's crying had ebbed and he was just sniffling into her shoulder.  
"Nanny, can we leave now?" Warlock asked quietly, almost whisper like into her neck.

"Of course dear. " Nanny said squeezing him tightly.

She then opened the back door of the Bentley and slipped Warlock in gently and buckled him into his seat shutting the door as she slid into her seat behind the wheel.  
Nanny looked in the rearview mirror and tried not to feel the piercing she felt in her heart at the expression on Warlock's face, like everything he had ever believed in had just broken his favorite toys and used them as firewood.

"Warlock, do you have anything you want to say or ask or just feel?" Nanny asked him gently.

Warlock shook his head, letting his hair hang slightly in his face.

Nanny frowned, not that she would've known what to say to comfort him, but no words aren't always the best words.  
Crowley remembered the phone call earlier with Aziraphale and smiled.  
"How about we go to the park and just do fun things? Carriage rides, ice skate, whatever you want." Nanny said peeking in the rearview mirror.

Warlock shrugged and slumped back in his seat, his little fingers gripping and ungripping themselves. 

Crowley sighed and put the Bentley in gear and headed toward St. James Park, hoping Aziraphale had something good planned.

They drove in silence to the park, it getting to Crowley as much as the noisy crowd did earlier. He tried playing a Dolly Parton Albumn, but the stero system churned out Freddie Mercury singing Jolene, which was not the mood setter he wanted, but it was better than silence. Crowley turned the volume down a bit and peeked at Warlock again, who had taken his deerstalker off and plopped it onto the seat next to him along with the magnifying glass. 

They drove in mostly silence until they reached St. James Park and Crowley turned the Bentley off and then unlatched his seatbelt and went to let Warlock out.

"Well Warlock what would you like to do dear? There's ice skating, snow playing, carriage rides..." Nanny listed as Warlock crawled out of the Bentley and walked in step next to her.

Warlock shrugged, not really seeming to have his interest piqued with any of it.  
Nanny frowned and led Warlock to the horse drawn carriages to see if that helped Warlock get in a better mood. He liked animals and he liked chocolate.

They stood in line and Nanny tried to get Warlock excited, but he only managed a weak smile at her.  
Once they reached the front of the line they sat in the carriage and sipped hot chocolate as the horses took them through part of the park.  
Warlock's face never got more than a small smile on it, no laughing, no gleam in his eyes. 

Nanny sighed and looked out at the snow fallen park as they rode around. Crowley spied the hill that he and Aziraphale had discussed earlier. He peered over the snow fallen stretches of park to see of he could spot the angel at the hill. He thought he saw some movement but that could be anyone.

Once the carriage ride was over Crowley and Warlock milled about the park, Warlock had no interest in ice skating today. Didn't want to join the kids that were having a snowball fight, didn't want to eat any of the food that any of the vendors had. They had trekked over to the top of the hill, but Crowley didnt see Aziraphale anywhere.

Crowley, exasperated plopped back in the snow.  
Warlock looked at him a moment and plopped next to him with a big sigh.  
Crowley glanced at Warlock and grinned.  
"Want to learn how to make a snow demon?" He asked with a devilish smile.  
Warlock raised an eyebrow and then the first inkling of a smile came onto his face.  
"Sure Nanny. " he said.

"First spread your arms and legs out." Nanny instructed demonstrating to Warlock.  
The boy mimicked her movements excitedly.

"Then sweep your arms and legs back and forth like this." Nanny said showing Warlock how to make the marks in the snow, deep enough to show, but not so deep as to get to the grass.

Warlock followed Nanny's demonstration and then smiled at her waiting for the next step.

Nanny grinned, "now take your hands and flatten them out." Nanny said holding both hands up in front of her, fingers extended upwards and thumbs toward her torso.

Warlock mimicked the hand movement.

"Now put this part of your hand on your head, and slide it back until it's on the very top of your head, and then press it into the snow." Nanny said showing Warlock carefully how to make the horns.  
Warlock concentrated on this last step and pressed his hands into the snow above his head like Nanny had instructed and demonstrated.

"Now carefully get up, but let me get up first so I can help you." She said before he could fuss up his work.  
Nanny gently rose from the ground and then bent to grab Warlock's hands and pull him up.  
He jumped up and spun around to look at their work and started laughing.  
There in the snow two snow demons were perfectly executed onto the cold ground. 

Crowley was so happy that Warlock was laughing at this that he began to uproariously laugh with him.

"Well now, that's not really in the Christmas spirit is it?" He heard a familiar voice say from behind them.

Crowley and Warlock spun around to see Santa Claus standing behind them, lit by the Christmas lights strung up in the trees, glowing with a gentle yellow white light.  
Santa stood in the glow and smiled widely at the mischievous pair.  
He wore a long powder blue thick satin gown, under a brown gilet embellished with ornate gold trimmings and gold buttons with a golden watch fob glinting in the light, a watch peeking from the top of a pocket.  
Santa's ensemble was overlayed with a matching powder blue colored silken robe with white fur trim along the edges and a brown tartan lining. Instead of a red cap upon his head he wore a crown woven from holly vines and berries, nestled upon a head of fluffy white hair.  
His feet were covered by dull brown boots that were thick and well worn, resting next to the boots in the snow was a red velvet bag with a golden sash that was held in the pudgy mittened hands of Santa Claus. 

Crowley raised an eyebrow, and then smiled realizing that the bearded stranger joining them was in fact Aziraphale, full thick white beard and all. His blue eyes crinkling at the edges just perfectly to make the demon's heart flutter.  
That glorious bastard had actually miracled up a beard after centuries of pledging that he would never ever adorn facial hair after seeing Crowley's In 1601. Had said that that was enough of a display to deter him of ever growing facial hair for the next millenia.

"Hello young Warlock, Nanny Ashtoreth." Santa said nodding at the pair.  
Aziraphale's usual cultured voice had become more dulcet and deep as Santa. 

Nanny nodded back at Santa as Warlock continued to study the newcomer. 

"Who are you?" Warlock asked crossing his arms over his chest, his lips curling in a petulant scowl.

Santa placed a hand at his breastbone, his mittened hand grazing the beginning curve to his large belly, Crowley felt jealousy and nausea in one as a certain line from that prat Shakespeare popped into his head, 'how I wish I was the glove upon that hand so that I could touch that cheek', but only for another tender area of the Angel's skin.

"I am Saint Nicholas, but you may know me better as another name, Santa Claus." Santa said to Warlock, his blue eyes twinkling through the fluffy white hair haloing his head and surrounding almost the entirety of his smile at the boy the two had grown so fond of.  
The boy that they bonded over. The boy that they had pledged to save the world over. The boy that they both loved greatly. The boy who had them wrapped around his fingers as they influenced him to be hellish and angelic over the last couple years. 

"Santa isn't real." Warlock said in a slightly angry voice, it wavered slightly as he announced that to the man claiming to be Santa Claus. 

"Really?" Santa asked, his nose wrinkling at that statement.  
He patted his chest, his belly, his face with mittened hands.  
"I feel real." He said looking at Warlock widening his eyes slightly.

"Santa isn't real, and you can't fool me too!" Warlock said grinding his foot into the snow.

"I would never try to fool you Warlock." Santa said earnestly shooting a look at Nanny who nodded as if to say 'go on.'  
She placed a hand on Warlock's shoulder gently.

"I bet your beard is fake too!" Warlock accused pointing a finger at Santa's beard.

Santa tilted his chin out and leaned down, "Go ahead and see." He said.

Warlock reached a hand forward and tugged hard down on Santa's beard, Santa's lower jaw came down with the yank and Crowley could see Aziraphale flinching beneath the whiskers.  
Warlock's eyes widened and he let go of the beard and looked at Santa closely.

"If you're Santa why aren't you wearing red? Why are you wearing a blue bathrobe?" Warlock asked inquisitively.  
Aziraphale's jaw dropped in aghast at the thought of going out in a bathrobe, but quickly regained composure and Santa smiled gently at Warlock as Crowley stifled a roaring laugh.  
"Well do you just wear one color all the time?"  
Santa asked Warlock shooting Crowley a look.

"Well, no." Warlock said, his suspicion still high.

Santa nodded as if that solved all the questions the boy would ask about his clothing choices.

"If you're Santa, then what kind of cookies did Nanny and I leave you last Christmas?" Warlock asked still with an accusatory tone in his voice.

Santa brought a hand up to his chin, and pondered a moment before answering, "I believe you had left snickerdoodle cookies for me last year, with a large cup of chocolate milk, quite delicious, the cookies just needed a hint more cinnamon and a tad less sugar." Santa said winking at Nanny.

"Bastard. " Crowley whispered under his breath at Aziraphale. 

"Nanny, Brother Francis was right!" Warlock said tugging on the hem of Nanny's coat.

"Well that's just Santa's opinion, and how are we even sure that it's really Santa? I'm still not one hundred percent convinced." Nanny said sourly waving a hand in the air.

"Hmmm." Warlock said stroking his chin with a hand and he began to walk around Santa, inspecting him, waiting to find the seams of a charade.

Warlock fingered the powder blue robe that Santa was wearing, feeling the softness. Not finding fault with that he continued to circle.  
He stopped and gave Santa's round tummy a slight poke, making Aziraphale jump a bit and giggle before composing himself as Santa again.

"Well that checks out that you don't have a pillow stuffed under there. That's a ticklish spot on everyone, even Nanny." Warlock murmured to himself as he continued to circle Santa. 

Santa raised an eyebrow at the show the boy was putting on, but glad that he was passing all the tests.

"If you're Santa, how did you name all the reindeer?" Warlock asked, more curiosity in his voice than suspicion.

"I let the elves name them." Santa said easily with a nonchalant shrug.  
Warlock nodded as if this made the most sense in the world then continued circling Santa Claus and shooting a wink at Nanny who smiled. 

"Okay, Santa, if you know when I've been bad or good, what was the bad thing that I did yesterday?" Warlock asked, a slight nervousness in his voice.

Santa chuckled, "I believe you hid your mother's cell phone when you wanted her to play with you after Nanny went home for the day. Which isn't necessarily bad, at least not in my book." Santa said giving Warlock a warm look.

Warlock gaped at Santa a moment and then shook his head slightly and continued his little march around the bearded man.

"If you're Santa, what did I ask for  
Christmas in my letter this year?" He asked stopping dramatically in front of Santa pointing at him, but a smile now spreading on his face.

Santa smiled, making his eyes crinkle deeply, and his teeth shine in the light.  
He knelt down by Warlock's side and gestured to the red bag he had with him.  
"Why don't you see?" 

Warlock's eyes widened and he smiled and grabbed at the bag, undoing the golden sash and reaching a hand in.  
He clutched a large box and pulled it out with both hands, it was wrapped in ornate silver and blue paper and topped with a silver bow, a nametags reading Warlock Dowling in swirly script.

Warlock grinned from ear to ear, "can I open it Santa?" He asked excitedly. 

"Of course, it is for you after all." Santa replied.

Warlock shot a smile at Nanny and began ripping at the paper.  
His eyes got enormous as he held up a box featuring a NERF N-Strike Mega Megalodon Blaster with 20 Official Nerf Mega Whistler Darts.

"Nanny look what Santa brought me!" He exclaimed with delight.

"Keep going." Santa urged Warlock, with a nod.

Warlock smiled knowingly and reached into the bag and handed Nanny a duplicate box.

Nanny raised an eyebrow and looked at the nametag on this present, and smiled gently as she read Nanny Ashtoreth on the tag.  
She knelt down next to Warlock and tore gently at the paper and found an identical nerf gun nestled in the box.  
She furrowed her brow and looked at Warlock. 

He smiled with a shrug and said, "I wanted you to have a fair fight when we played together, this way we both have reay good nerf guns, and it will be fair and equal!"

Nanny laughed and ruffled Warlock's hair affectionately.  
"Thank you hellspawn, and thank you Santa. " she added catching a grinning Santa. 

"Now Warlock, there's something I need to talk to you about." Santa said gently, rising back up to a standing position.

"Yes Santa?" Warlock asked looking up adoringly at Santa. 

Santa took a deep breath and said, "Warlock, you are getting older, and you need to know that as you grow older, you may find yourself not believing in me anymore." 

"No Santa! I'll always believe!" Warlock said throwing his arms around Santa's wide waist.

Santa smiled and patted Warlock on the back.  
"It's okay Warlock, the time won't happen yet, but it will, not now, not next year, and not the next year, but down the road, you'll stop believing in me, like most children do as they grow up, and there's nothing wrong with that. What's important that you believe in, is," Santa paused looking over at Nanny. 

Santa cleared his throat and continued, "what's important, is that you continue to believe in good things, like friendship, kindness, and love. If you believe in those things, then you will be just fine in this world, whatever may come your way."

Warlock looked at Nanny, who looked a she had a tear rolling down her cheek at what Santa had said, but it must've just been the way some of the Christmas lights were twinkling. 

"I believe in those things Santa." Warlock said, all seriousness seeping into his tone.

"Good. Then you will be just fine." Santa said giving Warlock a hug.  
Warlock smiled and hugged Santa back as hard as he could, and then he went to inspect his new nerf gun further, looking at all the pictures on the back.

Santa went and knelt next to Nanny who gripped her own nerf gun in her hands.

"He'll be just fine." Aziraphale said gently, his carefully executed facade starting to slip just a bit.  
"I know, even if ya know, he even becomes the ruler of hell, he'd still be a better boss than I got now." Crowley said with a shrug. 

The pair looked at Warlock together for a moment before Santa turned back to Nanny and holding out the red velvet bag to her.  
"You have something else in the bag dear." Aziraphale said gently to Nanny giving the bag a shake.

Crowley's brows furrowed, and he grabbed the red bag and reached deep into it to pull out a long thin box wrapped in red paper.  
"What's this?" Crowley asked raising an eyebrow at Aziraphale. 

Aziraphale smiled, "you have to open it to find out you silly serpent."

Crowley grinned and gently tore at the red wrapping paper revealing a dark colored box with silver swirly embellishments in the grooves.  
Crowley removed the lid and looked at the gift and then looked at Aziraphale in surprise.

"Aziraphale..." Crowley said somewhat awestruck at the gift.

"I, er, overheard Warlock asking Nanny why she never wore jewelry if she was a girl, and I knew it had somewhat wounded you. So I found something special for you, and Nanny, to wear." Aziraphale said sheepishly, a slight blush appearing in his cheeks.

Nestled in the velvet lining of the box was a silver chain link bracelet with one small thin oval charm dangling from it.

"It's called a floating locket, and you put meaningful things in it, usually beads or gems, but I thought this would, mean more, I had to miracle it down to size so it would fit properly and not look silly." Aziraphale said stumbling a little over his words.

Crowley felt a warmth spreading through him as he held up the bracelet and marvelled at the treasure between the glass of the charm. Within the charm, was a small perfect white feather.

He felt tears prickling his eyes and a lump rising in his throat as he gazed at the face of the angel who he had known, been friends with, fallen in love with...

"W-would you help me put it on?" Crowley asked stuttering slightly.

Aziraphale nodded solemnly and slipped the mittens off his hands, and tucking them into a pocket of the robe.  
Aziraphale gently picked up each end of the bracelet in his warm plump hands as Crowley lifted his hand up, Aziraphale circled the bracelet around Crowley's thin wrist and clasped the ends together.  
He turned the bracelet to where the charm rested against Crowley's bare skin at the top of his wrist and left his hands there a moment, holding Crowley's hand in both of his.

Crowley felt the warmth and softness from Aziraphale's hands against his skin, the warmth radiating and filling his entire being.  
Crowley looked up from his new bracelet and met Aziraphale's gaze, feeling a blush creep across his face as he realized Aziraphale had been looking at him the whole time.

Aziraphale bit his bottom lip and leaned his face in closer to Crowley's.  
Crowley simultaneously leaned closer to Aziraphale's, titling his head slightly. Aziraphale's eyelashes fluttered as he leaned closer to Crowley.  
Crowley stifled a giggle as the white beard Aziraphale had tickled his cheek the closer they got.

Suddenly a cold wet explosion went off between Aziraphale and Crowley's faces, dousing them both in snow.  
They both fell back and blinked wildly back to their surroundings.

Warlock was grinning mischievously holding an armful of snowballs. 

"Oh you're in for it now hellspawn!" Nanny shouted with a grin diving for some snow to pack together and toss back at the impish boy.

Santa smiled and snapped his fingers and a large amount of snow fell on both Nanny and Warlock's heads.

"Oh that's it! Warlock help me get him!" Nanny shouted with a laugh tossing an unimpressive armful of snow fluff at Santa Claus.

Warlock laughed and began throwing his snowball hoard at Santa, missing more often than not, but laughing, red cheeked and eyes lit with joy.

Crowley smiled at the sight of his two biggest loves in this whole of creation recklessly pelting each other with snow, his cheeks ached he was smiling so much.  
Aziraphale caught the smile on Crowley's face and felt his heart beat quicken as he smiled back and gave him a wink.  
Crowley's eyes fluttered behind his glasses, and then Nanny yelped as she felt snow sliding down the back of her dress.  
She spun around and saw Warlock giggling so hard he fell back into the snow.

Nanny dove over to him and began tickling him, Santa Claus joining in and tickling the boy until he could barely breathe he was laughing so hard.

The trio fell back into the snow on their backs, breathing deeply and catching their breaths. Their cheeks were rosy red, their noses were freezing cold, and their hearts were all full of love and wonder and joy.


End file.
